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Here's a fantastic detailed explanation of the geometry and what's going on with each visual element of the picture, from Slate: http://mobile.slate.com/blogs/
by T-hawk 14y ago
Here's a fantastic detailed explanation of the geometry and what's going on with each visual element of the picture, from Slate:
http://mobile.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2012/12/20/saturn_s_night_side_cassini_sees_rings_and_planet_in_stunning_picture_photo.html http://mobile.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2012/12/20/satur...
- ableal 14y agoMany thanks. I also like the 2006 picture mentioned at the end of that article - pics at http://www.ciclops.org/view.php?id=2230&js=1 http://www.ciclops.org/view.php?id=2230&js=1 . According to comments there, it seems that one won the BadAstronomy blog best pic of 2006 choice. Quote: "Interior to the G ring and above the brighter main rings is the pale blue dot of Earth. Cassini views its point of origin from over a billion kilometers (and close to a billion miles) away in the icy depths of the outer solar system." (Saturn is "icy depths of the outer solar system"? Well, I'll never! That's the Oort cloud. This is merely the better neighborhood, with the fancy planets ...)
- dot 14y agoThanks for posting the article. Really helped! If you're still having trouble wrapping your mind around the shadowy part... Look at this image and imagine the light source coming from behind instead: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Saturn_HST_2004-03-22.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Saturn_HS...
- jebblue 14y agoWhy do they look almost computer generated? Just curious.